Welfen Castle

Welfenschloss is a former castle in Hanover, in the Nordstadt district, which has been the seat of the University of Hanover, now Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hanover, since 1879.

The castle is now surrounded by a landscaped park, the Welfengarten. This has changed its appearance several times over time.

The castle was built from 1857 to 1866 according to plans by the architect Christian Heinrich Tramm, using yellow-white Velpke sandstone, one of Germany's hardest sandstones, originating from the Danndorf and Velpke areas near Helmstedt, and Nesselberg sandstone from the nearby Nesselberg. Previously, Schloss Monbrillant stood on this site, which was demolished for the construction and rebuilt in Georgsmarienhütte.

The construction of the castle during the time of the Kingdom of Hanover under George V also determined the iconographic program of the castle, which was planned as a summer residence for the royal family: As a return to the tradition of the Welfs, the sculpture of Henry the Lion, created around 1862 as a commissioned work by the sculptor Wilhelm Engelhard, opened the series of eight important rulers on the bel étage of the castle's facade in the Welfengarten. However, the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover and the dethronement of the Welfs by Prussia in 1866 destroyed the residential plans, so the castle stood empty for over a decade. It was not until 1879, after extensive renovations under the direction of Georg Huneaus, that it was put back into use with the relocation of the Royal Technical College, today's Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hanover.

During the air raids on Hanover during World War II, the chapel on the east side of Welfenschloss was severely damaged. In place of this part of the building, which was then demolished in 1955, an extension was built from 1956 to 1958, housing the Auditorium Maximum and the large physics lecture hall.